This same concern arose when Frisk was accused of colluding with Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard in 2005. And when those two ever-reliable witnesses, Ashley Cole and John Terry, claimed to have heard referee Poll say he “wanted to teach Chelsea a lesson” during a game with Spurs in 2007, claims they subsequently withdrew.
And when Ovrebo was hounded out of London after failing to award a penalty in the 2009 Champions League semi-final. On each occasion ugly accusations about an official’s integrity and character were issued, and then subsequently dropped. On each occasion it signalled the end of a leading referee’s career.
And now Clattenburg has suffered in a similar way. He issued a statement on Thursday saying he hoped no other referee ever had to go through what he had; his life had been made a misery. And he would be right not to wish such an ordeal on even the most myopic official.
Although the charge was officially “using inappropriate language”, Chelsea were indicating soon after that the allegations were of a racial nature. At a time of such sensitivity, at a club tainted with issues of racial outburst, as complaints go, this was the nuclear option.
Chelsea’s chairman, Bruce Buck, made it known that the club were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t over the Clattenburg affair. What if it had been discovered they hadn’t acted on a claim of racial abuse by a player? How, in the light of the John Terry affair, would that be seen? Well, true, it would have been embarrassing for them. But how can what has happened since have been any less embarrassing for them?
We will be left to wonder to what extent Chelsea’s sense of grievance was driven by anger at Clattenburg over decisions which went Manchester United’s way.
It used to be said that the toughest job in the world was acting as Stalin’s PR man. Not any more. Pity the poor sap in the corporate relations department at Stamford Bridge obliged to justify the pursuit of Clattenburg.
They ought instead to be offering an unconditional apology to Clattenburg, an admission they should have acted with greater caution over such a serious allegation. But don’t hold your breath."